Comments on: At home in the Milky Way

By: geomaniac

geomaniac — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 04:01:40 +0000

We are so afraid of the dark that we are going to light this planet up so much that at some point we won’t be able to see a single thing in the night sky. The moon? Maybe.

Here is what we need more of before it is too late:
http://www.darksky.org/

By: flynjack

flynjack — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:51:53 +0000

I cant help but think of one of my fondest camping memories. I was in the Canyon Lands of Utah. I had gone to sleep under a waxing moon. The view of course was spectacular even with the moonlight reflecting off the canyon walls. By a great stroke of luck I woke about 3 am to completely dark skies and one of the best views I have ever witnessed of the Milkyway. It was still so light from just starlight that I could nearly go for a hike. It took me an hour to go back to sleep, as I just could’nt stop looking and wondering at the beauty.

This was’nt my first experience with dark skies but it was one of the most memorable. I have been in the Big Bend as well but did not have the good fortune to be camping while there. I did however witness ball lighting during a thunderstorm in the Big Bend and that was most impressive. Nice link BA!

By: autumn

autumn — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 04:12:19 +0000

Best naked-eye viewing of the Milky Way I have seen was in mid-August, ‘97, in Vermont’s Green Mountain National Forest, at a campsite called Moosalamoo. It must have been a new moon, and I was forced to retreat away from the main camping area to allow my two companions to have a lover’s quarrel (we were three ex-college students traversing the country in a VW van, and my friends had decided to go with the “benefits” option immediately before essentially moving in with each other in a space roughly the size of a large freezer. Awkward hardly describes it).
Anyway, I walked a hundred yards or so up to the top of a big hill behind the campground, and laid down in a little clearing. I looked up, and realized how the ancients were forced to invent mythologies and see magical things in the night sky. Had I been utterly ignorant of modern knowledge, I would have invented a religion on the spot. Seeing the bands of dust, and the bright regions spilling, like, well, a river across the sky, remains one of my most treasured memories.
I’m almost ashamed to say that over the next ten weeks, my companions and I became rather blase about the views we were able to obtain from the various campgrounds we visited. We still looked up, but until we were forced back into urban life, we forgot the rarity of what we had been taking for granted.
Seeing this post, and reading the words of Mr. Nordgren, remind me that I must make every effort to let my children see where they live before it is impossible to do so.

By: Michael Lonergan

Michael Lonergan — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 00:08:59 +0000

‘m sure my neighbor will appreciate the lines of people staring through my scope at the window. There’s nothing else to look at here since the sky is usually cloudy at this time of year on the Coast (West) of BC.

By: Colin J

Colin J — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 23:41:16 +0000

Awesome. Great photo and article. Seeing the expanse of the Milky Way from a truly dark sight is something everyone needs to put their lives into a little ‘galactic perspective’!

As luck would have it, Earth Hour is this weekend, and it’s a chance to promote lights off and stars up! Get out your scopes, tell the neighbors to shut off their lights and let them line up at your eyepiece.

http://www.earthhour.org

By: Michael Lonergan

Michael Lonergan — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:48:59 +0000

Sadly, I wonder how much longer we will be able to get to places where the sky is truly dark, away from any light pollution. I was dismayed when I went out one night last year with my telescope, here in Squamish. We are a small town just north of Vancouver. I went down by the river, which I thought would be the darkest spot in town. I was dismayed as I tried to observe and could see nothing except the orange glow of sodium lights.